Muscatine Journal, May 5, 1866, “Mr. Douglass was the guest of Alex. Clark, a colored citizen, […]”
This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal on April 5, 2023.
This little item caught my eye and triggered today’s column.
“A new historical marker was erected [Mar. 8] in Champaign, Illinois, to mark the site where Frederick Douglass spoke in 1869.” (“The Reconstruction Era: Blog Exploring the World the Civil War Created”)
The marker is one of 20 to be posted throughout Champaign County for a new African American Heritage Trail.
The famous orator had also spoken in Muscatine, I recalled, maybe brought here by Alexander Clark. A story to find and tell!
Muscatine Journal, April 24, 1866: “Fred. Douglass’ lecture in Des Moines was attended by the largest audience ever assembled in that place. He has refused over thirty invitations. He lectures in Moline on Wednesday, in Muscatine on Thursday, and in Davenport on Friday.”
“At Chicago, Dubuque and other places, Mr. Douglass was received by densely-packed houses, and many who were anxious to hear him were compelled to forego that pleasure, on account of not being able to get into the hall. Let us greet this champion of liberty as enthusiastically here as any other place.”
Admission 50 cents. Tickets at Terry’s Music Store.
Muscatine Journal, April 27, 1866:
Tremont Hall, one of the largest in the State, was packed to its utmost capacity, and the audience was distinguished for its number of intelligent and influential citizens. … All present pronounce it one of the ablest, most eloquent addresses ever delivered in Muscatine, that it would have been worthy of any orator of any country, of any time.—Parts of it were witty, parts humorous, parts sarcastic, and all excellent. … Above all, no candid person can fail to concede that his argument in behalf of equal rights, for the prevention of future rebellions and future assassinations, is irresistible and unanswerable. We do not hesitate to say that were Mr. Douglass to deliver this lecture to the whole people of Iowa, equal political rights for all men would be demanded almost with unanimity.
A glowing commentary, but readers may have wished more reporting of the lecture (“Assassination and its Lessons”) and less of the “handsome” introduction by the Hon. Jacob Butler, the banker and businessman who had recently served in the legislature as speaker of the house.
“Mr. Douglass then spoke for two hours…. It would be entirely impossible to convey a correct idea of his address without reporting it in full, and this he requests may not be done.”
The Davenport Democrat, April 28, 1866:
The lecturer proceeded to draw a highly colored picture, of the services and devotion of the negroes in the late war. The substance of his rhetoric may be summed up in the rather sarcastic and time honored phrase of Sherman’s troops—”And the colored troops fought nobly.” … If they made a virtue of necessity, we can not see why they should be made the recipients of our adoration. We must either allow the negro to vote, says Fred, or the people of the South will, and then we will have another rebellion to suppress, with the negroes in the ranks against us, at the same time asking us to give them the elective franchise for a protection against the South and its abuses. This seems to be his plan, willing to unite with them, yet fearing them. … Colonization is impracticable, he says, as the Government is not able to transport their natural yearly increase. They will not “fade out,” as they will not connect themselves with the whites. We must let them vote because we are strong and they are not.—We expect the Radicals will soon follow his lead, endorsing his interpretation of Congress’ policy in the enfranchisement of the negro, and the disfranchisement of the whites, on the plea of sweet justice.
Muscatine Journal, May 5, 1866: “The statement made by a certain newspaper, that Fred. Douglass was entertained while in this city by a distinguished white citizen, whom it names and attempts to ridicule, is wholly untrue. Mr. Douglass was the guest of Alex. Clark, a colored citizen, whom the sheet we have referred to seems disposed to rob him of an honor justly due him.”
Historian David Blight: “Although it can never really be measured, he may also have been, along with Mark Twain, the most widely traveled American public figure of his century. By the 1890s, in sheer miles and countless number of speeches, he had few rivals as a lecturer in the golden age of oratory. It is likely that more Americans heard Douglass speak than any other public figure of his times. Indeed, to see or hear Douglass became a kind of wonder of the American world.” (Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, 2019)
Muscatine Journal, May 28, 1895: “…the old historic Tremont Hall, the cradle of liberty in Muscatine.…”
I’ll explain that remarkable encomium in my next column.
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“Faces of Hope: Bob Campagna Remembers the Clark House & 1970s Muscatine.” The Art Center exhibit [ended] April 9 [2023].
Next time: Tremont Hall reminiscences